> since the Venezuelan government seems to do the impossible -- running an oil country into the ground.

Most oil countries are badly run; and whatever you think of Hugo Chavez and his party, Venezuela was already at least halfway into the ground before they came along, tbqfh.

Are there really other oil countries that have a hard time to even get credit?

And then there are the large social problems? A command economy that kills local business might be common, but the size must be worse in Venezuela? Etc.

To close the opposition media and using the TV is quite standard in places like that. But as much as in Venezuela?

(Libya and possibly Iraq has problems from violence and Iran has sanctions. They are a bit special cases.)

I find it very depressing that socialism gets tried over and over again with the same predictable results. Power-mad but charismatic leader, wrecked national econonmy, widespread shortages of every day items, suppression of free media and free speech and finally the government murdering it's own citizens to suppress dissent. It's the same story over and over but people still seem to think 'this time it will be different'.

If there were no socialism some other form of ideology would be used. Political or religious. Look up "the resource curse" on Wikipedia, it is just too lucrative to control an oil country and steal the money...

Also, as I understand it, things like this is especially common in South/Latin America with much populist aristocratic history.

brucefancher, your comments are "dead", i.e. you're "hellbanned".

Send an email to the admins, since it doesn't seem you should be.

(This is my own new account since I was hellbanned and don't have energy enough to send email. I got angry at an idealist idiot that might not have been a spammer/troll.)